Re: CULT: Is this pineappling?

On Jul 13, 2005, at 6:56 PM, Mary Swann-Young wrote:
> Never had this happen before. Only 2 seedlings from this cross (my
> pinkish NOID X Sostenique) Both are trying to maiden bloom in mid-90s
> heat with no rain. A slew of tiny little buds and zig-zag branches on
> both. Should I compost them? Cut off these stalks? What is the
> chance they will perform normally in future years?
No that does not look like pineappling, See attached picture.
Pineappling is generally multiple distorted stalks coming from the same
spot on the rhizome. Pineappling is thought to be similar to Witches
Broom in other plants. In irises it is thought to be causes by damage
to the growth point often because of a late freeze.
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Driving through the countryside, you will often see trees and shrubs
with small sections of twigs densely clustered together, resulting in a
mass of shoots that resemble a broom. The actual cause is not always
clearly understood, but can be due to various microorganisms or
insects.

Witches broom on Jack pine is commonly caused by Dwarf Mistletoe – a
tiny flowering, almost inconspicuous parasitic plant. The mistletoe
produces a tiny seed that is propelled great distances onto the growth
of surrounding pine trees. There, the seed germinates, infects the new
tree and begins the cycle again.

In the nursery trade, the densely compact growth habit is often
considered attractive. So desirable is this appearance that several
types of plants infected with witches broom have been selected,
propagated and released as ornamental cultivars. Many “dwarf” cultivars
are examples of witches broom. Below Willow Witches Broom

As to what you have, looks more like branching that you get on I.
japonica or I. confusa, but obviously not what you want on a TB. I
would wait to see what it does next year before composting it. Might
be an interesting novelty iris depending on what it does.

John

John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.